Well, it has been a week since our crazy journey home from Idaho, and I can finally get to posting about our trip.  Life is still not completely under control, but I think we have all finally recovered from the exhaustion and jet lag that comes with a vacation :).

This vacation all began with a dream of getting all of the Brown boys together, and through a few different miracles (including Kevin actually getting leave approved), Valerie and Dennis were able to pull it off and get them all in the same place at the same time.  It had been almost 6 years.

So, very early Monday morning, we loaded up and headed to the Raleigh airport and began our adventure.  (I think we may have the only kids that are completely excited and happy when they are woken up at 4:30 am – and they stayed awake for the whole drive.)  When we got to Boise, my parents were waiting for us and it was so fun to have the 2 hour drive to talk to my mom and dad :).

They took us to the Brown's house in Twin, and the adventure really began.  Here are some of the highlights of our week . . .

*Derek's iphone obsession:  Although it did not begin on this trip, but the fact that both Randy and his girlfriend each had an iphone, sure cemented Derek's love of the technology :).  Within seconds of our arrival, he had found one of them, and then convinced Randy and Kate to play games on them so he could watch.

*Going to a session at the Twin Falls Temple with Kevin:  My parents, as well as Kevin's brother Scott and his wife Shannon also came.  It a wonderful experience and a chance to have some much needed peace.

*Getting reacquainted with Randy's girlfriend Kate:  Although we had met her before Randy's mission a long time ago, it was great to get to know her better.  (Lily kept dropping marriage hints all week to the two of them, which was pretty funny.)  She is great and we love her already. 

*Games, books and prize give-a-ways:  Grandma Valerie's house is known for the fun games that she has, and the kids loved any chance they had to play with them.  And just for fun, Valerie had baskets of prizes for the guys, the girls, and the kids.  They gave them out randomly – my prize was earned by being married to Kevin, and I got the Pioneer Woman cookbook.  Very fun.

*Having dinner with my family: Even though it was a gathering for Kevin's family, we did get to spend some time with my family as well.  On Tuesday night we went to dinner at my sister's and had a very fun meal.  (It was a "Santa Surprise Dinner," where the menu has funny names for everything and so you don't know what you are getting.  The kids loved it!)

After dinner, one of my old high school friends, Carrie, stopped by.  We hadn't seen each other in ten years and it was such a blast to catch up.  It was like we had never been apart.

While we there, Lily got to go over to my parents and look at their decorations.  My mom even let her play with her antique village.  Watching her move the skaters on the skating pond really brought back memories of when I was a little girl :).

*It snowed: Lily has been wanting to experience snow forever, and the day I was about to drive her up to the mountains, it snowed right there in Twin Falls!!  So exciting!  We went over to my sister's house, borrowed some snow clothes, and the kids had a blast!  It wasn't good packing snow, so there was no snowman and the snowballs were a little listless, but Lily made a snow angel and they had a great time anyway.

And afterward, my mom made them all hot cocoa.  Definitely a successful snow experience :).

*Kevin went skiing:   Between knee surgery and not living anywhere near snow, I think it had been maybe 8 years since Kevin last had the chance to go skiing.  He went with his dad, his brother Scott, and our nephews, Conner and Payton.  It was a little stormy that day, but they had a fantastic time and I am so glad he got to go!

*Swimming:  Since Kevin's brother and his family chose to stay in a hotel, we all got to take advantage of the hotel pool and hot tub.  It was so much fun, especially because of how happy Lily and Derek were to be in the water again.  (They have been going through withdrawals since we moved away from Georgia.)

*Projects:  We had some fun projects to do while we were there, in fact, I came away with a matching set of beaded serving utensils – very fun.   One night, Valerie had baked some cinnamon rolls into the shape of a snowman's head and the kids got to frost and decorate it.  The funny thing is that all of them wanted to save them and then eat the plain cinnamon roll :).  They had a blast doing it though.

And Lily and her cousin Anna spent some time drawing and creating.  It was the cutest thing how Anna would watch what Lily had drawn, and then draw the same thing on her paper :).

*Kevin getting some rest:  He works pretty darn hard, and so it was great to see him be able to take it easy.  And Derek, who really didn't take to the time change very well, also tried to take naps with his daddy often.

*Picking up Brian and Rachel from the airport:  Since they were the last ones to arrive, we decided to make a big "to-do" out of picking them up.  The kids made a welcome poster, Valerie got balloons and leis (for the girls to give them), and we ALL went to the airport.  It was a blast just waiting there together, and the funniest was when the first couple off the plane looked just like them from a distance.  We figured they sent their stunt doubles on ahead of them :).

*Eating great food:  Aside from all the wonderful homemade food we ate, we also got to partake of the goodness of Cafe Rio, 9 Beans & a Burrito, and Papa Kelsey's.  (It is no wonder I worked out everyday we were there - I ate way too much!)

*Uncle Randy teaching Lily magic:  Lily has decided that she really wants to learn magic, and her Uncle Randy, who has quite a few tricks up his sleeve, was so great as to not only teach her, but work out a whole show for them to perform for the family.  It made Lily's whole week :).

*Family Home Evening with all the family:  (Okay, so Derek did miss out, as he fell asleep on my lap during the first five minutes, but like I said before, the time change plus staying up late anyway, really hit him hard.)  There was fun, there was serious time, but mostly their was fun :). 

After some words from Kevin's parents, then playing songs on the bells, the "talent show" began.  Lily did her magic show with Uncle Randy, Conner and Payton sang the Twelve Days of Christmas, and Anna sang as well.  Randy and Kate even played a duet on the piano.  Then it was time for the pinata!  That was, of course, the kids' favorite part :).

*Borrowed Boots:  As we are definitely not accustomed to snow where we live, the only one in our family that owns boots is Kevin, and those are his Army boots.  So, I was especially grateful to my sister for loaning me some boots to get from her house to the car when the snow had turned to 6 inches of wet slush.  She had to take a picture of me in them, of course. (And yes, I look scary in said picture – oh well.)

 *The Pig-out:  The real reason we got together when we did, was so that all the boys and their dad could spend a few days watching as many college bowl games as they could.  They had so much fun, especially since they had done their yearly picks for winners and so it was a competition as well.  And of course, they had the buffet of food to make it worthy of the name "pig-out."  It was a great way to end our week :).